Pereira: Gruden is a “blowhard”

Former NFL head of officiating and current FOX analyst Mike Pereira was just getting started when he ripped Jon Gruden on Twitter during Monday night’s game.

With more time to think about Gruden’s failure to understand NFL rules, Pereira only got angrier.

“[Gruden] was a loudmouth as a coach who constantly disrespected officials and he is a blowhard in the broadcast booth who spouts off when he doesn’t know what he is talking about,” Pereira wrote in a column for FOXSports.com.

MDS did a great job explaining the plays in question from the Falcons-Saints game and the NFL’s clarification of the rules on Wednesday, so I won’t repeat that here. Instead, let’s hear Pereira explain why he has “very little respect” for Gruden’s understanding of the rules.

“To me, the second you agree to step into the broadcast booth, you agree to learn the rules. It goes with the job. You, as an announcer, have an obligation to know the rules. You are free to pontificate as to whether or not you like a rule, but you must present the rule first,” Pereira writes.

It’s a great point by Pereira. Far too often, NFL announcers don’t know a basic function of their role. It’s their job to educate the viewer. Instead, guys like Gruden often only add to the confusion and ignorance of fans watching at home.

Gruden stands in sharp contrast to his broadcast partner Mike Tirico, who stands out by knowing how to clearly apply the rulebook in any situation.

Perhaps Tirico can teach some seminars this offseason at the Fired Football Coaches Association.

Monday Night would be much more enjoyable if I could just mute Jon Gruden. He starts with his predetermined speech and doesn’t change his mind even when the camera shows he is wrong. At first I liked the energy he brought but I think he dumbs down the whole crew and I am tired of him.

even the classy Charles Woodson wasn’t so classy in his response, he was right

to pull an OBSCURE rule outta the book that has NEVER been called before in an NFL game, and call it for the first time on the NFL’s biggest stage is a tragedy,

league against Al Davis & the Raiders or not,

that is a clear fumble, the announcer Phil Simms thought it was a fumble, Brady was re-loading his arm after not liking what he saw down field, in the process of him re-loading he was hit and fumbled the ball,

his eyes are looking down at the ground, not up at the field, he was not trying to throw it, he was re-loading it, it was a fumble, not an incomplete pass,

for Pereira to ever speak after allowing a robbery to take place on his watch is ridiculous.

Gruden was hard on officials because NFL officials are blinder than bats, dumber than a bag of bricks, and extremely heavy handed in Raider games.

Raiders games have become extremely hard to watch because we see more of the officials than the actual game. Every other play is inturpted by a whistle, a flag, and a referee’s voice over the PA system.

I’m serious a Raider game is more of a overview class of the NFL rule book than an actual game. I heard every penalty in the rule book called against the Raiders. And every penalty broken down in multiple ways by the announcers trying to justify it.

Wow….Gruden just got taken to the woodshed.
I”m no big Gruden fan (he seems to be in love with every player) but I somewhat disagree with Pereira. Becoming an expert on the rules does not go with the job of announcing. They are there to entertain us and talk us through the game.

As a matter of fact, the ONLY reason Pereira has a job on Fox is to explain the rules. That is exactly his only job.

i dont really mind when announcers dont no a rule or two there are 100s… what annoys me is when they forget players names brian billick is the worst for it… im watching the game thinking how are they paying him to do this he is the worst announcer in all of football

Maybe he was at a bar watching the game, and the spirits got the best of him, and since no ladies knew who he was, or cared, he decided to go on twitter…..I know sure as hell, he would never say this about Joe “Napoleon complex” Buck……Who he works with……..And is just as bad…….

It’s rare to hear criticism of the top teams at the other networks. Sure, viewers may not like the personalities or agree with the view-points, but you don’t hear much about the competency of Michaels/Collinsworth, Buck/Aikman, or Nantz/Simms.

The real problem seems to be Gruden. He seems to have some support. Peter King likes to constantly compliment Gruden for whatever reason. But for every Peter King, there’s 2-3 Keyshawn Johnson’s or Mike Pereira’s.

Generally you have to give a guy the benefit of the doubt if you don’t have a personal account, but in Gruden’s case, there seems to be an awful lot of smoke. By smoke, I mean, a lot of people seem to dislike him for one reason or another.

It’s kind of like Lane Kiffen in college sports, Sean Avery in hockey, or Alex Rodriguez in baseball. You hear enough personal accounts, you come to the conclusion that its pretty likely those individuals just aren’t very good people.

even the classy Charles Woodson wasn’t so classy in his response, he was right

to pull an OBSCURE rule outta the book that has NEVER been called before in an NFL game, and call it for the first time on the NFL’s biggest stage is a tragedy,

league against Al Davis & the Raiders or not,

that is a clear fumble, the announcer Phil Simms thought it was a fumble, Brady was re-loading his arm after not liking what he saw down field, in the process of him re-loading he was hit and fumbled the ball,

his eyes are looking down at the ground, not up at the field, he was not trying to throw it, he was re-loading it, it was a fumble, not an incomplete pass,

for Pereira to ever speak after allowing a robbery to take place on his watch is ridiculous.

I am not a huge fan of Gruden the announcer but Tirico is really bad and Pereira is nothing but a mouthpiece for Goodell and shill for the bad officials. No wonder, other than the part-time nature of the job, so much of the officiating is awful when you consider that this clown Pereira was the supervisor. His comments are worthless!

How anyone can like Jon Gruden as an analyst is so far beyond my comprehension it’s ridiculous.

“Gruden’s QB Camp” is an excruciating exercise in awkwardness and badgering of kids scared to death to say the wrong thing because they know, for some inexplicable reason, that people actually pay attention to what this ignorant blowhard, who by the way HAS NEVER DEVELOPED A YOUNG QB PROSPECT INTO A PROVEN STARTER, has to say about quarterbacking.

He is an attention grabbing egomaniac who won only with someone else’s players coaching against his own team.

I eagerly look forward to his next coaching job so that he can further exposed for fraud that he is.

Great example: Darryl Johnston, former player and Super Bowl champion, this past Saturday in the Giants/Jets game. Jets punt, Jets stop the ball at the 1 yard line, as the ball is still rolling around and is surrounded by Jets, Giants LB Chase Blackburn comes crashing in to try to get the ball. He doesn’t, the Jets get the ball, 80,000 misinformed fans go wild, and Johnston spouts off on why there’s “absolutely no reason for [Blackburn] to be anywhere near the ball!!”

Except for the RULES, which state that as soon as the ball is “illegally touched” by the punting team, the receiving team has the option of the result of the play or taking possession at the spot of the illegal touching. Which means you can pick it up and hand it to the kicking team if you want, you’ll still have the ball.

It’s not the fans fault for not knowing all of the rules and Jets fans getting temporarily excited. They don’t have (easy) access to the rule book. But the former players-turned-commentators do. And they often fail the fans miserably.

This new NFL makes it impossible to know whats a penalty and whats not. Every time a defender makes a tackle he has to get up looking to see if he was flagged. Refs are inconsistant. The NFL wants to review every TD but phantom roughing the QB is not reviewable? The league has become baby BS, offensive records should have an *.

Am I the only one that likes Gruden in the booth? I don’t mind Perreira. The only thing that aggravates me is when Fox brings him on to explain stupid rules that even average football fans know, such as “The receiver needs TWO feet in bounds for it to be considered a catch”.

I think Perreira’s stance here stems from his relationship with the officials and relating to when he himself was an official. Seems a little harsh to me, I don’t think the plays were as cut and dry as he makes it seem. Either way he needs to relax. Gruden is on their for his high-profile and knowledge of the Xs and Os, not his knowledge of specific rules

I re-watched the two plays in question, if Gruden can not tell the difference between a helmet-to-helmet hit and a shoulder to lower back, then it is time for him to go.

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Don’t recall the officials during the game stating it was helmet to helmet, believe Pereira threw that in himself. The simple fact that so many fans across the country know specific officials by name is NOT a good thing. PLEASE, Mr. Pereira, explain to us one more time why Brady didn’t fumble the divisional round against Oakland again?

Gruden expresses his opinion and even though at times I disagree with him I know the difference between a announcer and an official. He doesn’t represent the league he is hired by the network to be entertaining.

I disagree with Pereira that it is Gruden’s job to learn the rules, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea. It’s like anything else. If you want to be the best, you put in the work to make it happen.

Tirico and others who are true professionals and want to be taken seriously have done that work and know what they’re talking about. Gruden comes off as someone who is skating by thinking everyone sees him as an authority because of his coaching background. He needs to make the effort to get better at it or get out of the booth because right now he is a blowhard.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you’re a football announcer, you’re supposed to be an expert on the game, and that means knowing it’s rules. It’s pretty sad when me, as a Joe Beer Gut fan sitting on my couch, has a better understanding of a rule than an announcer who’s job it is explain the game to fans.

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched a replay challenge and hear an announcer say “that’s going to get overturned because…”, and I know that they’re wrong.

A player can not hit or lead with the helmet/head and can not hit a player in head/helmet area. What is so difficult to understand about that? Well Gruden may indeed be a “blowhard”. It would seem Jon Gruden is stuck in the past when players had the potential of causing severe head injury and even paralysis.

You have records being broke by QB’s that get to pass to receivers that cannot be touched, matter of fact the QB cannot be touched, these records being broke today mean nothing in today’s game of Flag Football and Pitch and Catch.

What really bothers the KING of BS or the X NFL SPIN DOCTOR about Gruden is he gives weight to what so many others have stated. Coaches in the game today have stated they do not know what a catch, hit, TD, Fumble even are today. Fans have been saying it for awhile and now you have Gruden yelling it out for all to hear.

Tell Pereira to buy a Boat and get lost, never believed his Bull when he SPUN for the NFL and sure am not buying it now, I will take Gruden opinion any day.

Isn’t Gruden playing the part of color commentary? If so, then he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to. I’ve never heard the color commentator be anything but a blowhard – popping off about the things not relevant to the game, showing phoney outrage about questionable calls, and completely over-analyzing the most trivial of details (does anyone remember Madden going into a whole thing about how ugly the down and distance markers are and where they get stored when not in use?).

“how come every time I put blow and hard in the comments section it gets deleted but you put it right there in the headline?”

I think it depends on how you use it. For example, if you use it to describe somebody who works for Football Night in America, for example, somebody who spends 70% of his articles on Red Sox and coffee yet is considered by this site a football expert, then it gets deleted. If it’s somebody who works for a competing network and who fits Pereira’s description, you can use it.

If I recall, though, they didn’t call “helmet to helmet”. I think that is where a lot of the confusion lies. Seems like if that’s the case, it is the fault of the refs on the field for not making the correct call.

Pereira sounds like a guy who’s gotten far too used to never being questioned, due to his previous role.
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He’s the former NFL VP of Officiating. He was constantly questioned in that role. I’m not sure what you’re getting at there.

Anyway, at the risk of sounding like apologist for the recent rule changes (which I’m not), Mike is correct on this one. Gruden was completely wrong the other night. It was almost as if he had an agenda, because otherwise I can’t imagine someone being that clueless. Even a person that had never watched football could tell the difference between the Lofton and Jenkins hits.

mjbulls45 says:
to pull an OBSCURE rule outta the book that has NEVER been called before in an NFL game, and call it for the first time on the NFL’s biggest stage is a tragedy
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First, I would like to point out that the “Tuck Rule” was indeed used earlier that very season …. AGAINST the Patriots, Week 2 vs. the Jets.

Second, I would once again like to point out to you whiney Raider fans that despite the “Tuck Rule” call, they still had about a minute to stop the Patriot’s drive, which they couldn’t do, resulting in a tied score.

The Raiders then had a SECOND chance to stop the Patriots, in overtime, which they also couldn’t do.

It WASN’T the “Tuck Rule” which cost the Raiders that game; it was the Raiders DEFENSE, which TWICE couldn’t stop Tom Brady.

Gruden just calls it like he sees it. When he interviewed Sean Payton and Drew Brees the day before kickoff last year and showed the highlight of Dave Thomas getting a P.I. call by Ben Leber in the 09 NFC Championship Game….

gridironman says: “Monday Night would be much more enjoyable if I could just mute Jon Gruden. He starts with his predetermined speech and doesn’t change his mind even when the camera shows he is wrong. At first I liked the energy he brought but I think he dumbs down the whole crew and I am tired of him.”

It’s well known in the industry that the MNF crew is terrible. Tirico is not a play-by-play guy by trade; he is a reporter at best and gets a little too over excited, like hie’s trying ot prove something. Gruden is an ex-soon-to-be coach and Jaworski is a former player (and I don’t particularly mind that they don’t have every I dotted and T crossed on rules – you can explain that with graphics or interview someone during the game. What I do mind is over-analysis.). They all tend towards the over exuberant. Oh for the days of minimalist broadcasting partners. They best just let plays speak for themselves (think Summerall in football, Harry Kalas in baseball). There’s to much analysis and it’s over-analysis. I can see what’s happening on the field; you don’t need to explain it to death.

Likely ESPN knows it has a problem — ratings are down after all — and aren’t all that worried about losing Gruden. The problem is that Michaels and Madden (like Madden and Summerall and Summerall and Madden before them) set such a standard that it’s hard to duplicate.

There are some terrific female reporters who I think would make great broadcasters, for any sport, actually. Pam Ward does it already, for instance. Lindsay Czarniak would be great in racing. Bonnie Bernstein, Suzie Kolber, and others would be excellent. I would not be amiss to having a broadcast team that includes a female and actually I think they should actively pursue that.

What is so difficult to understand about seemingly simple rules? Why dont you guys ask the refs that because no matter how some of you defend the rules and the refs, the fact is it is not consistently applied. You guys act like that penalty was so cut and dry. When I first saw it, I dint even see the defender use his helmet. The receiver’s head falls down in the last second into the defender. If that is the definition of a helmet to helmet, then you can call MANY plays like that. The ref used the defenseless rule. Well, spearing in the back is also part of that rule, yet refs didnt call that on the New Orleans defender. It’s not just this game. THere are way too many instances where a guy like Heath or Hines get hit in defenseless position in the neck area or even head are in plain view of hte officials and it is not called.

Worst MNF game refereed was when Chargers played KC. Some of those calls were out of this world ridiculous.

So Perieia has to question why the refs dont know the rules. Here is another area where rules are misinterpreted – when the ball makes contact with the ground momentarily, but the player has CONTROL. I have not seen one consistent explanation. It was upheld in the Ravens SNF game against Steelers but same ruling wasnt made in similar situations in other games.

Let me get this straight: So the defender closes on the ball and the moment he arrives at the point of contact the defender is expected to contort himself in such a way as to keep his head from making contact with the receiver’s body.

Is that correct?

That would be a great rule if a person’s head wasn’t connected to his shoulders. But since our heads are connected to our shoulders, there will be many times when a person’s head will become involved in the collision.

Gruden is just expressing the perplex nature of these rules and how they are applied inconsistently. He speaks for many people who find themselves frustrated interpreting the rules and how they are administered. It’s funny to see the NFL scramble with wording to describe their rules that a lawyer cannot even understand. For Pereira to pretend the rules are cut and dry is simply dishonest and an insult to everyone’s intelligence. These rules are written and then enforced at the discretion of the referee’s and the league office. These rules are as consistent as the fines levied against players. You get $7500 for celebrating a td but 5k for punching someone??? You do the math??

Has there ever been an announcer who loves the sound of his voice more than Gruden? I thought Theisman was bad but Gruden is by far worse. Gruden says things that don’t make sense to anyone but more so for people who know football. Simply the worse. Ever.

Not a Gruden fan but the officiating has been horrible this year. They are flat controlling games and deciding games. I am starting to feel like I am watching the NBA. With every bad call and starting to doubt the integrity of the game.

They haven’t had a decent MNF crew since they got rid of Dennis Miller. Prior to that Boomer Esiason was pretty good even though for some reason Dan Dierdorf clearly couldn’t STAND him and got on his case every chance he got. It could be worse though; we could be stuck dealing with Tony Cornheiser over at the NFL Network. That guy is hands down the worst to listen to.

was a loudmouth as a coach who constantly disrespected officials and he is a blowhard in the broadcast booth who spouts off when he doesn’t know what he is talking about,

i’ll translate that; “He had the guts to challenged biased officiating against the Raiders, had more press was more telegenic and lucked into a top ranked defense…I don’t have any media run, therefore my refs constantly favor “approved” teams, players and have dogged out “notorious” teams for years, and we all know it –

the tuck rule was one of the first uses of automatic review, before the league really approved it and was IMPOSSIBLE to determine from the booth…but i enforced it because I WANT THE REFS TO BE A PART OF THE GAME, not the players making plays” I will also mete out financial punishment for hard hits that have always been a part of the game due to player safety (top ranked quarterbacks that throw touchdowns and run up ridiculous scores).

With apologies to Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, who I lifted this from. I inserted a few changes.

I want to talk about John Gruden for a second. This guy is an outstanding game announcer; the thing I like about this guy is that this guy doesn’t do anything he can’t do. This guy can move around a little, speak off the cuff, go deep on the analysis … I’m telling ya, this guy can do a little bit of everything. This guy reminds me a little of an announcer I heard in the 80s by the name of Pat Summerall. You don’t think of this guy as an elite announcer in the National Football League, but trust me, this guy is an elite announcer in the National Football League. Maybe the ratings don’t reflect it, but this guy gets the job done. John Gruden — I like this guy.

How anyone can like Jon Gruden as an analyst is so far beyond my comprehension it’s ridiculous.

“Gruden’s QB Camp” is an excruciating exercise in awkwardness and badgering of kids scared to death to say the wrong thing because they know, for some inexplicable reason, that people actually pay attention to what this ignorant blowhard, who by the way HAS NEVER DEVELOPED A YOUNG QB PROSPECT INTO A PROVEN STARTER, has to say about quarterbacking.

He is an attention grabbing egomaniac who won only with someone else’s players coaching against his own team.

I eagerly look forward to his next coaching job so that he can further exposed for fraud that he is.
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I eagerly await Gruden to get a real QB like Sam Bradford , RUN THE BALL DOWN YOUR TEAMS THROAT and win another Super Bowl to shut these idiots up – his players loved him, and the ones that didn’t were likely scrubs, anyway. Gruden has an ego, but is opinionated, and his guys play for him…we’d likely have won a lot more had we not foolishly traded for him. And for the record, he never, ever had a real QB in Tampa Bay.

Dude, I’m sick of comments getting taken off for apparently no reason. Let’s try this again:

I can’t stand Pereira. He’s got nothing to say when brought on during the broadcast. He simply repeats the rule and says “we’ll see” or something to that effect. He’s making a living off of being the former VP of officiating—and the officiating is a disaster. It’s inconsistent. The rules often don’t make sense (e.g. Calvin Johnson rule). The refs make up rules (e.g. second act exception, as well as “inducing a false start.”)

The MNF team is the only one I cannot stand to hear during the game. I’m amazed that these guys are still on the air. I think they would be the 4th team on any of the other networks. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Thursday night NFL network team this year. Getting rid of Matt Millen was the best thing they could have done.

richm2256 says:
Dec 29, 2011 11:37 AM
mjbulls45 says:
to pull an OBSCURE rule outta the book that has NEVER been called before in an NFL game, and call it for the first time on the NFL’s biggest stage is a tragedy
———————————————————
First, I would like to point out that the “Tuck Rule” was indeed used earlier that very season …. AGAINST the Patriots, Week 2 vs. the Jets.

Second, I would once again like to point out to you whiney Raider fans that despite the “Tuck Rule” call, they still had about a minute to stop the Patriot’s drive, which they couldn’t do, resulting in a tied score.

The Raiders then had a SECOND chance to stop the Patriots, in overtime, which they also couldn’t do.

It WASN’T the “Tuck Rule” which cost the Raiders that game; it was the Raiders DEFENSE, which TWICE couldn’t stop Tom Brady.

Stop your “Tuck Rule” whining, your team LOST.
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I’d also like to point out, you aint won SQUAT since SpyGate, either – the Ravens and Jets both showed you the door.

The Pats were a freakin joke during the Victor Kiam years and the Raiders were involved in the greatest games in NFL History – Heidi, the Immaculate Reception, Ghost to the Post – We forgot greater games than your franchise had ever known. You’re the 21st century Miami Hurricanes, and you just lucked into the greatest 6th round draft pick in NFL history.

That being, said, Tom Brady is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and Tuck Rule not withstanding, he won a couple of other rings and could win another one. But don’t get it twisted – your johnny come lately’s to this whole thing. Every ERA eventually ends, and the clock is ticking on Tom.

The penalties are getting ridiculous…especially in the last 2 minutes…The roughing the passers and pass interference are just killing this league….let em play…The refs are deciding too much of the game….

MNF crew should all be recently retired players or coaches with a personality and who still know the current game at a much higher level than any reporter.

I do not think they should pursue a female, some son of a rich well connected family or someone who studied to become a reporter / broadcaster simply put unless they have played or coached the sport at a high level and have a higher understanding than the large majority.

Having been a huge fan and student of the game both playing and watching for a couple of decades now I feel that I am more qualified than some of the people who they have had and are currently in the booth, on the side line reporting or writing for the NFL in some way. However, I don’t think I would be anywhere close to being the best for the job because as much as I watch, re-watch, read or play I’ve never been involved with an NFL team and thus there are too many far more qualified than myself, Suzie Kolber, or anyone else not having coached or played in theNFL

Pereira should keep his yap shut. When he ws head of officiationg he had a segment on NFL Network where Rich Eisen would go over questionable calls during the season. NOT ONCE did he ever say “yeah, the official blew the call” it was always “Well the rule is interpereted this way, and he was probably thinking thi….s so in essence he was rigtht”. Yet now he has no problem calling the refs out on Fox. Funny how the company line changes depending on who’s towing it.

John Madden was the worst MNF announcer ever despite being so knowledgeable it was like he was commentating for first time fans who didn’t know the game. Gruden is at least standing up for what most fans, coaches and players feel, the rules are getting worse and worse while we fans pay more and more.

It is infuriating to listen to Gruden call a game. All he does is reinforce the obvious and then claim that that play was one he talked about and studied all week. As soon as a team makes a decent play, Gruden is all over it. Giants draw up the middle to Jacobs for 5 yards: Gruden: “now this Giants team does this so well. I talked to them all week and they said they really need to get the ball to Jacobs up the middle. This guy runs so hard north to south and noone wants to tackle him.” 2 plays later Jacobs gets stopped. “Now there is a play that they talked all week about getting away from. The Giants can’t have success if they run up the middle.”

He reminds me of this porn star that was interviewed for an HBO special. She basically said that what she does while “performing” is just state exactly what is going on and do it with fake emotion and be loud. Just like she screams “Youre #@%^ing me so hard”, Gruden shouts “This qb can throw the ball so well outside the numbers and he has been working on that route all week.”…Just like the porn star, he needs to learn that if you just keep shouting and shouting, it is obvious that youre just doing it for appearances. He offers no real insight and nothing new.

Anyone interested in critiquing officials of any sport, should shut their yap and give it a try. In fact, start with youth sports and enjoy the idiot parents who think their kid stands a chance of a scholarship. Officials are not infallible yet are very necessary. You wouldn’t want to watch a sport without them. Anyone who thinks it’s easy, please don the stripes because I’m sure your expertise would be welcome.

Mike Pereira has no integrity. Hes basically there for the NFL to try to silence the growing criticism about the way things are called. He’s just making things worse . While the hit on the back of the spine was not helmet to helmet , it was still a hit against a defenseless receiver, a rule Pereira conveniently ignored in his effort to always protect the officials.

Gruden is right and the NFL is a mess when it comes to the subjectivity of implementing their “rules”

Anyone else sick of Pereira being wrong half the time on reviewed plays? I’m thinking FOX gives it one more season with their “let’s go to Mike Pereira for his opinion” and then fires this shmo as the failure he is.

I have heard that as far as head coaches go, Gruden had the least knowledge of the rules. There was an NFL show about officiating and they all complain about his lack of knowledge of the rules. Parcells was probably #1 for his knowledge. It doesn’t look good for Gruden if he is looking for a HC job!

Mike Pereira … Man, I love this guy. Sharp as a tack, this guy can digest a rule book about as fast I get down a slice of pizza. He has the eyes of a hawk that allow him to make calls all over the field. FOX was lucky to pick this guy up, what programming station wouldn’t want this guy on their staff? Its the Mike Pereira’s in this league that everyone wants.

Pereira is truly the definition of blow hard. He should have learned what it is to be on the TV side because he will support the refs regardless of they are right or wrong. The NBA lost me and a tonne as a fan when the officiating was terrible in the playoffs and it turned out the integrity was compromised. There have been some seriously bad calls this year where I think either the refs don’t understand the rules or there is something wrong here as well. Pereira keep it to 10 seconds next time or shut the front door.

Tatumo, I’d like to point out that the Patriots got screwed against the Raiders in the 1976 playoffs on a bogus call (the Patriots also beatdown the Raiders earlier that year, the Raiders only loss), so learn your history and shut your fat mouth.

Pereira rant was so ironic because many fans thought he was a terrible official and now a terrible so call expert on NFL game day. Pereira has never gone against his officials and when he almost has to call them wrong falls on the letter of the law on a call. The officiating is so inconsistent on the helmet to helmet rule they SHOULD get rid of it. As usual the retired head of officials wants all to be quiet including a game commentator on how bad the officiating as become.

Gruden is just expressing the perplex nature of these rules and how they are applied inconsistently. He speaks for many people who find themselves frustrated interpreting the rules and how they are administered. It’s funny to see the NFL scramble with wording to describe their rules that a lawyer cannot even understand. For Pereira to pretend the rules are cut and dry is simply dishonest and an insult to everyone’s intelligence. These rules are written and then enforced at the discretion of the referee’s and the league office. These rules are as consistent as the fines levied against players. You get $7500 for celebrating a td but 5k for punching someone??? You do the math??

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Pretty much this in a nutshell. Its baffling to me for people to think overwise. Grudens spot on, and anyone that knows football would agree.

I’d also like to point out, you aint won SQUAT since SpyGate, either – the Ravens and Jets both showed you the door.

The Pats were a freakin joke during the Victor Kiam years and the Raiders were involved in the greatest games in NFL History – Heidi, the Immaculate Reception, Ghost to the Post – We forgot greater games than your franchise had ever known. You’re the 21st century Miami Hurricanes, and you just lucked into the greatest 6th round draft pick in NFL history.

That being, said, Tom Brady is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and Tuck Rule not withstanding, he won a couple of other rings and could win another one. But don’t get it twisted – your johnny come lately’s to this whole thing. Every ERA eventually ends, and the clock is ticking on Tom.

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Wow…….. live in the past much, dude?

Johnny come lately’s??

The Patriots had many great years before Tom Brady, and have had many epic battles with your Raiders long before the Belichick years.

Were there crappy years in between the great Pat’s teams of the 60s, mid to late 70s, mid 80s to mid 90s Super Bowl teams …… ? Of course. But a Raiders fan should be the LAST person to point that out.

I can only hope that TV manufacturers sell remotes with specialty MUTE buttons that allow the viewer to silence annoying people like Gruden. I can’t stand his constant over-the-top hype and adulation for every play and player as one of the greatest ever.

Jaworski overplays his knowledge of the game, and sounds so desparate for someone to believe him. You never won anything, Ron.

Tirico is just a fraud, from phony broadcasting voice to his self- important attitude. Howard Cosell admitted that he “never played the game,” but he was vastly more interesting and well- spoken than the fraud bald.

And Gruden. Probably the most qualified of the bunch to be there, but you can’t believe a word he says. Pure over-hype and over-statement, virtually everytime he speaks.

Regarding the tuck rule – it was BS as everyone knows and I piss on your ‘the Raiders had a chance to win after the Tuck Rule call and blew it’ logic. THE GAME WAS OVER if the call is made correctly.

No matter what your interpretation of the rule, you cannot with a straight face say that there was ‘sufficient visual evidence’ to overturn the call on the field.

I thought I would get over it by now but it still pisses me off like it did the night it happened.

Mike P coming out and defending that overturn was gutless and I do not respect him to this day because of it. Worst call ever.

I agree with Gruden’s sentiment that the game is being wussified but he also should have recognized the difference in the two hits. He still could have lamented the pansy nature of recent rules changes even while allowing the two were different.

Great example: Darryl Johnston, former player and Super Bowl champion, this past Saturday in the Giants/Jets game. Jets punt, Jets stop the ball at the 1 yard line, as the ball is still rolling around and is surrounded by Jets, Giants LB Chase Blackburn comes crashing in to try to get the ball. He doesn’t, the Jets get the ball, 80,000 misinformed fans go wild, and Johnston spouts off on why there’s “absolutely no reason for [Blackburn] to be anywhere near the ball!!”

Except for the RULES, which state that as soon as the ball is “illegally touched” by the punting team, the receiving team has the option of the result of the play or taking possession at the spot of the illegal touching. Which means you can pick it up and hand it to the kicking team if you want, you’ll still have the ball.

It’s not the fans fault for not knowing all of the rules and Jets fans getting temporarily excited. They don’t have (easy) access to the rule book. But the former players-turned-commentators do. And they often fail the fans miserably.
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Great post.

I would add that EVERY single network’s coverage of a game this year has had at least one crew (Phil Simms/Al Michaels/Brian Billick/Ron Jaworski, that I’ve witnessed) who have all gone bonkers on a QB getting hit with the ball going backwards…and they push the arm going forward issue to death…until someone in the studio or trailer radios up and tells them that with the ball goes BACKWARDS, it is ALWAYS a fumble whether there was arm movement or not. And 3 of the 4 are former player or coaches.

Most of these commentators look for more controversy and self-promotion than anything.

Except for the RULES, which state that as soon as the ball is “illegally touched” by the punting team,
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It’s actually the spot of “first touching” unless the guy that touched it was the first to touch it after going out of bounds….didn’t see the play.

Any time the ball is beyond the line of scrimmage on a scrimmage kick (punt/field goal still in field of play), either team can make contact with the ball. The receiving team just has the option of taking the ball at first spot of “first touching” (or any other spot, if more than one).

The only place illegal touching occurs on the field is a forward pass caught or touched by an ineligible receiver, when a player goes out of bounds and comes back in and is the first to touch the ball, or when a team is kicking the ball on a free kick (tee, punt after safety, or dropkick…which is still legal) and kicking team touches it before it has traveled the required 10 yards.

Pereira is clearly a puppet-stooge for the league. He never disagrees with them even when they are clearly in the wrong.
The problem is that the rule state that helmet to helmet is illegal. But has a penalty ever been called on an offensive player for lowering his helmet and ramming someone? Does the league really care about safety if they only protect offensive players? What about Bradshaw lowering his head and causing helmet to helmet contact on Pool in the Giants vs Jets game. Pool suffered concussion like sypmtoms yet no penalty or fine. There is also no leeway given when offensive player duck or twist into a hit (as was the case with the Colston hit) that would not otherwise have been helmet to helmet. The NHL has a much better policy. Players are only dealt harshly with when the disciplinarians determine intent to target the head. Helmets will hit helmets all the time with no intent to target the head. I don’t buy one bit the NFL’s load of crap about safety.

Gimme a break. When Mike Pereira wins a Super Bowl as a head coach I’ll listen to him. Being head of officiating and turning that into a talking head job isn’t the same as being a winning head coach. I much rather listen to Gruden who knows waaaay more about the game. Pereira’s 30 seconds of fame are up. THE GAME IS NOT ABOUT THE OFFICIALS AND TELLING US WHAT CALL WAS RIGHT OR WRONG. THAT SHOULD ALL BE INVISIBLE TO THE FANS. I care about the players and the coaches. The officials and Pereira can all be fired and replaced tomorrow and no one would care.

I’d say his job as a broadcaster is to broadcast what he sees and how he sees it. He’s not paid to officiate or to know the rule book like an officiating crew is required to. Tirico’s a great guy to have in the booth, but let’s be honest…three Tirico’s would make for a pretty dry broadcast. ESPN knew what they were getting with Gruden, and I enjoy his contributions, uninformed as they may be.

even the classy Charles Woodson wasn’t so classy in his response, he was right

to pull an OBSCURE rule outta the book that has NEVER been called before in an NFL game, and call it for the first time on the NFL’s biggest stage is a tragedy,

league against Al Davis & the Raiders or not,

that is a clear fumble, the announcer Phil Simms thought it was a fumble, Brady was re-loading his arm after not liking what he saw down field, in the process of him re-loading he was hit and fumbled the ball,

his eyes are looking down at the ground, not up at the field, he was not trying to throw it, he was re-loading it, it was a fumble, not an incomplete pass,

for Pereira to ever speak after allowing a robbery to take place on his watch is ridiculous.

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The tuck rule happened. Get over it. The Raiders still should have won that game but they blew it. A game isn’t won or lost on one play. Since the tuck rule is in the rule book this should be basically a non-issue. I’ve watched at least 4 games this year where it was called the same way. It’s just part of the game.

I could care less about Gruden, but loathe Pereira. When they used to have “official review” on the NFL network, he’d regularly side with the refs. Usually this would be because the rulebooks is very vague in some aspects.

Take the 49ers v. Seahawks game where the Seahawks hit a player that had slipped, gotten back up to his knees, and was pounding the ball in frustration. Periara blabbed off about how it’s been a rule since 1976 that you can’t hit a runner who has given himself up.

The rulebook just says it is a foul for “running or diving into, or throwing the body against or on a ball carrier who falls or slips to the ground untouched and makes no attempt to advance, before or after the ball is dead”

Problem #1 – The rule reads like a situation where a player goes to the ground and stays there on the ground. It doesn’t really cover a player getting to his knees or trying to get up while there is still a live ball.

Problem #2 – If the player had given himself up, the refs should have been all over it blowing it dead. It seemed like they were letting play continue to see what happened since he wasn’t down and the guy got creamed because of it.

If Mike would actually say something like “the rule is a bit vague in regard this particular situation, but I believe the officials made the right call in the spirit of rule” I would probably pay him some mind.

Really you had a situation with 3 boneheads: Williams for not knowing that the play was still live, the ref for not blowing the whistle right away, and Robinson for creaming the guy instead of touching him down. Yet, ole black and white Mikey P. doesn’t cover any of that.

It’s still the rules people whether you like them or not. You know running a stop sign is against the law, but unless you get caught you get away. So sometimes referees miss calls but sometimes they do get it right. I don’t like Gruden playing booth referee either, but until he gets fired or told to shut up we have to put up with him

Of course Gruden is a blowhard. So wasn’t John Madden. But they’re lovable blowhards with great/fun personalities. The people who take issue with guys like this are typically frustrated jealous guys with dry white toast personalities. Sound like anybody you know Mike Perreira???

Pereira comes off as an aloof blowhard. He misses the bigger point Gruden tried to make — that a hit like the one in question should not be against the rules. Forget about whether the refs followed the letter of the law in that case. The bigger issue is that the rules need to be fixed to allow well timed hits like that. I suspect Pereira knows this and is doing all this ridiculous pontificating in order to deflect focus from the fact that Goodell and the rules committee are ruining the game.

I am so pleased that Mike P. stood up and criticized Jon Gruden I am giddy. After Gruden’s original criticism I sent at tweet to the NFL & Goodell requesting they please inform their commentators of the rules, or discipline them if they get them wrong. Minutes later, Gruden criticized the officiating crew for not calling a PF for a hit to the back of a “defenseless receiver.” At this point I tweeted the NFL and Goodell again to please train their idiotic commentators on the rules of the National Football League.

Not long after that Jon Gruden continued to spout off like the jackass that he is and I changed the channel. I love football, and the NFL, but my time is too valuable to watch incompetent morons get to spout of their moronic opinions on national TV. I would rather watch a rerun of Law & Order for the 47th time than listen to Jon Gruden announce a football game. He is an embarrassment to the profession of broadcasting, and coaching for that matter. He makes me wish to hear Joe Thiesmann’s analysis again, which is probably the worst analysis in the history of football.

Today’s NFL fans are too smart and too informed to be continually subjected to this horrible commentary by incompetent morons. 9 year old children would be more insightful than Gruden.

Peireia should explain the multiple rule books. The ones that give the Patriots the advantage, and the ones that most other teams play. I would like Peirera to explain why the Patriots almost always get an illegal contact first down call when facing 3rd and 15. I would like Peirera to explain how the league created the rule of illegal contact because of the negative reaction of the Patriots holding the Rams in the Super Bowl. Yet, the Patriots are now benefitting from that rule. We know the game is thrown, we don’t need Peirera to blow smoke up our arse, we need more commentators like Gruden who are tired of compromising the game to the benefit of the Patriots.

To westcoastPackerfan; “You sir are an idiot.” Open your eyes and close your ignorant mouth. Also try to use your tiny brain for more than spouting swill over and over. Pay attention to the facts and issues here please.

If the rules were enforced evenly to all players and teams, there would be no confusion and debate, as well as wrong or misguided analysis or perspective on these calls.

Gruden doesn’t have a real opinion as a Broadcaster, who cares what rules he doesn’t know, he’s just a man with NO OPINION, he favors every single player no matter what the situation is, he thinks every QB coming out each year is great with his stupid QB Camp, that just tells me he will soon coach again, besides winning a SB with Dungy’s guys, he hasn’t done anything after winning that SB, OVER RATED!!! And the Chucky face on MNF is as fake as it was as a coach too.

I hate Mike Pereira. He always wants to stay with the call on the field, even when its obvious he shouldn’t. Like the time Stephan Logan was returning a kick against the packers. They ruled it a fumble but it was so obvious that he was down. Use common sense instead of using the word indisputable or undisputable.

I’d become a “blowhard” in a heartbeat if it got me Gruden’s kind of money!
Pereira should keep his mouth shut! “ALL” coaches rant at the refs. Pereira just wanted a chance to take a shot at a coach.
Everybody has their own opinions. Mine, I think Gruden does a great job in the booth. He’s not dull like some and he brings enthusiasm and knowledge to the game.
You just can’t please everybody all the time.